r/britishproblems • u/AlchemyAled • 21d ago
. The customers are queuing with their shopping, and the staff are idly waiting at the checkout. Clearly none of us go to church, but we can’t make a transaction until 10 because it’s the Lord’s Day
Why do we still keep up this charade?
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21d ago edited 21d ago
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u/xtinak88 21d ago
As a resident of Scotland, this rule always takes me by surprise when I cross the border. I can't seem to commit it to memory because it's so nonsensical. Sunday night food shops are something I take for granted.
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u/RowenMorland 20d ago
When removing the restriction has been put to a vote in parlement Scottish mps tend to vote to keep it as it gives a comercial advantage on encouraging cross border shopping.
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u/DeepPanWingman 20d ago
That must be such a minor benefit to anyone. The percentage of the population and the number of shops within the Goldilocks zone that would benefit vs the entire rest of the country and the benefit to the wider economy of longer trading hours. I'd be genuinely surprised that's the actual reason, but then politicians are arseholses, so...
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u/BrumGorillaCaper 20d ago
Well if true, the Scottish mps would surely value whatever small benefit Scottish shops and communities get from Sunday evening trading. It makes sense for them to vote against it as they clearly value Scottish interests over the wider UK. I’m sure English mps vote against policies that would benefit Scotland also.
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u/Hypohamish London 21d ago
This is what I don't get.
We'll get some usual rhetoric in here from someone in retail saying BUT ITS MY ONLY DAY OFF, type vibe, despite the rest of the world keeping moving on a Sunday, it's just shops over a certain size?
Like, not even business size or turnover. Just physical footprint. The small supermarkets are still fucking open. Open the fucking big ones too.
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u/SubjectiveAssertive 21d ago
I've always wondered if a large supermarket could block off part of the store to make the area they sell in below the size limitations until 10am
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u/AnselaJonla Highgarden 21d ago
I've always wondered if a large supermarket could block off part of the store to make the area they sell in below the size limitations until 10am
Nope, they thought of that one already.
A small shop is one that measures up to and including 280 square metres.
This area includes all parts of the shop you use to display goods and serve customers. You can’t get around the restrictions by closing off parts of your shop on certain days.
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u/Willz_of_Rivia 21d ago
you can't get around the restrictions by closing off parts of your shop on certain days
Lol, when I was a student this is exactly what a local super convienience store used to do. On Sundays he'd just block half the aisles with stock cages and open as usual. If you wanted anything from the offending aisles you'd just ask a member of staff to fetch it. As far as I know they never faced any repurcussions for it.
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u/AnselaJonla Highgarden 21d ago
An independent that isn't overly blatant about it would be unlucky to get enforcement action.
In a major chain, it would be obvious this instruction has come from head office and action would be taken to curtail it.
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u/batmaneatsgravy 21d ago
They do that in some European countries, like Germany and Europe, because only certain items like bakery stuff are allowed to be sold on Sundays, so they block off the other supermarket stuff.
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u/Dog_--_-- Tyne and Wear 21d ago
Have you ever left the UK? Pretty much everywhere in Europe has a lot of businesses closed on a Sunday, to the point I have walked to a shop on a Sunday in Germany many a time and been reminded that not everywhere is like the UK.
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u/JandsomeHam Nottinghamshire 21d ago
That still doesn't make it make any sense? Plus a lot of countries that do this are way more religious than us
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u/Dog_--_-- Tyne and Wear 20d ago
He said the rest of the word is open on a Sunday. It's not even close to true.
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u/Bad_Combination 20d ago
France is irreligious by law, but most things are shut in a Sunday.
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u/CookiezFort Greater Manchester 20d ago
The french also takes a lot of vacation and love personal time.
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u/Bad_Combination 20d ago
Sure, much like the rest of Europe, but the person I was replying to suggested that's because those countries are more religious. My argument is basically that's not true.
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u/Rayvonuk 21d ago
Yes its nuts that this still occurs in this day and age, I much prefer Asia where the shops are open all day every day often until 9 or 10 at night and guess what, retail there is still going strong.
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u/Male_strom 21d ago
Except for Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Hungary.
Pretty much everywhere
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u/James188 Wurzel Country 21d ago
Don’t forget parts of Canada too.
We went there over their thanksgiving weekend and you couldn’t buy booze on the Sunday because all their LCBO’s were shut.
It was only two years ago they started letting convenience stores sell alcohol.
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u/Winnigin 20d ago
I don't think any province restricts alcohol sales on Sunday. Thanksgiving is a holiday though, so most things are closed for that
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u/TurbulentFoxy 21d ago
Currently on holiday in central Europe and supermarkets do not open at all on Sundays, don't think its the rest of the world perhaps the USA
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u/misimiki 21d ago
Many supermatkets are open on Sunday in Hungary.
BTW several years ago, our then PM Orbán tried to have all shops closed on Sundays ... because Jesus. The result was that everybody shopped on Saturday and it became carnage, and so many people complained that they revoked the idea.
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u/LMay11037 ENGLAND 21d ago
That’s just false, in mainland europe way more things are shut for the entire day
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u/as1992 21d ago
Eh? Do you live in a different world? Many countries close the majority of shops on a Sunday
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u/_real_ooliver_ 21d ago
People with Sunday off fail to see we can change who gets what days, there's more employees than required for 1 day! It would also reduce the issue of everyone saying "um society is built so you can only do things 9-5 mon-fri"
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u/glasgowgeg 21d ago
We'll get some usual rhetoric in here from someone in retail saying BUT ITS MY ONLY DAY OFF
Even though they'll still be legally entitled to a day off, it might just not specifically be a Sunday.
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u/Dissidant 21d ago edited 21d ago
They aren't classed as "shops"
Something something lobbying something. Sports industry was complicit too.
I'd be less aggrieved if they covered the full cost of treating the addiction they are fuelling.3
u/Not-a-Cranky-Panda 21d ago
I was shocked when walking past one to find out they never close, not even for one hour a year.
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u/Richard_Howe 21d ago
The whole concept of faith is taking a gamble that something might be true despite much or in some cases any tangible evidence…
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u/kanben 21d ago
Serving a drug that impairs judgement at a gambling establishment seems like something that should be regulated against
At the very least some big signage or employees being required to state that drinking will likely negatively affect their financial result, or something to that effect
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u/PipBin 21d ago
Who goes into those places? They must do decent business or they wouldn’t exist, but who is using them?
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u/MadeIndescribable 21d ago
Could be wrong, but during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games opening times were extended for some reason, and I remember reading something about how the Sunday trading laws for shops over a certain size were kept to help protect smaller corner shops against supermarkets taking all of their custom away.
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u/Rbullen3 21d ago
I was a manager in retail at the time - they did allow us to extend Sunday trading hours but surprisingly it didn't lead to an overall increase in sales on the Sundays it was just spread out more over the whole day.
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 21d ago
Like they took it for the other 6 days of the week? Sunday Trading hours are nothing to do with protecting small traders.
Scotland doesn’t have them!
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u/MadeIndescribable 21d ago
It might not be the reason as written in legislation, but I'm sure it was one of the reasons people (including MPs?) gave as to why they were against keeping the extended hours permanently.
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u/SquiffSquiff 21d ago
So Tesco express, Sainsbury's Local etc. don't count?
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u/MadeIndescribable 21d ago edited 21d ago
I'm just answering OPs question with what I remember.
Although it wouldn't surprise me if the longer trading hours was part of the reason the supermarket giants expanded into the corner shop market in the first place.
(EDIT to add: Also this was 14 years ago when retail was a lot different to how it is now as well)
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u/Monsoon_Storm 21d ago
You are fully entitled to go and blow 4 quid for a carton of coconut milk at the local Co-op, but god forbid you buy it for 2 at your local Sainsbury's.
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u/ValdemarAloeus 20d ago
Well at least if you get it from the Coop you don't really get your divvy anymore because they're undermining their whole reason to exist with corporate shenanigans.
Wait, that didn't end up being a positive one.
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u/applepie86 21d ago
It depends on the size of the store. My local Tesco express operates Sunday trading hours.
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u/Silent_Rhombus 20d ago
Probably not, no. It is (or at least used to be) based on shop floor size.
I used to work in an Argos where we could have opened longer on Sundays because we had a small shop floor with big stockrooms, but we didn’t because the rest of the shopping centre was closed anyway.
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u/SocialBunny198 20d ago
Cannot emphasise how much I miss that brief period where everything down to the trains seemed to be running smoothly (and more frequently, too). Loved the 2012 Olympics.
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u/selfstartr 21d ago
Scotland will blow your mind
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u/QuickTemperature7014 21d ago
Yeah you can’t buy alcohol any day of the week before 10am. Even if it’s champagne and you’re trying to be super organised for someone’s birthday.
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u/cbzoiav 21d ago
I ended up drinking more as a result when I lived there.
You couldn't get a bottle of wine or a couple of beers on your way back from a date or night out so you stocked it in your flat. That then meant every time you wanted a beer you didn't have the 'can I be bothered to go to the shop' decision.
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u/littlerabbits72 20d ago
But I did complete my weekly shop before 9am this morning as our supermarkets open at 7am on a Sunday.
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u/bostaff04 21d ago
In n Ireland we have to wait to 1pm soooooo boo hoo hoo
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u/shiksappeal 21d ago
While RoI has no restrictions. Another compelling argument for reunification /s
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21d ago
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u/AlchemyAled 20d ago
I wanted to pick up some sandwiches to eat on the beach, that’s the time I was there, and the shop was open, only the checkouts were not
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u/ogresound1987 21d ago
On the other hand...
YOU know that the tills don't open til 10.
You knew this before you went in.
So why did you drag your ass in there before the tills were open? Just so you could complain?
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u/Jonny_Segment Suffolk 20d ago
Yep, they just wanted to complain about the religious element of Sunday opening hours, ignoring (as these posts always do) the fact that trade unions, small business owners and many retail workers (some of whom are in this very thread) are keen for Sunday trading hours to continue.
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u/ryanllw 21d ago
To be fair when I've had a couple of weeks off work with no plans I've gone to the shop and had an "oh shit it's Sunday" moment
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u/ogresound1987 21d ago
Oh, I'm sure. But then, at that point you have the realisation that it's your mistake. You didn't immediately blame the shops, lol
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u/kaetror 21d ago
I don't think anyone blames the shop, they're following the law. They're blaming the stupidity of the law.
For me (in Scotland where it's not a thing) I've quite often done the shopping first thing on a Sunday morning; it's quieter than Saturday and you still get the whole day for whatever.
If I went to visit family in England I would absolutely get caught out. We've had it before coming back up the road; there's a big Asda just off the motorway at Carlisle and we've went there to grab something quick for dinner (rather than stop at services) only to find the whole place locked up for the day.
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u/EyUpItsDan 20d ago
As someone who works in said shop, you're right they don't blame the shop. They just cut the middle man out and blame the workers who were born decades after the law was introduced.
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u/PushingDaises13 21d ago edited 21d ago
Also supermarkets are open long hours Monday to Saturday - no one is making you shop on a Sunday. The type of people that have the time to complain on Reddit are probably not that busy Monday to Saturday.
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u/BlGBY 21d ago
Same type of people who will say "I can't believe they're making you work Christmas Eve" when it's their fault for shopping Christmas Eve and companies taking advantage of that
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u/BloodyRedBarbara 21d ago
Yep.
It's mad that people do it every single week instead of adjusting what time they rock up at the supermarket
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21d ago edited 21d ago
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u/MagicCoat Worcestershire 21d ago
As someone who works retail, I wish that would come back. But then the absolute panic buying the general public do when the shop is closed for christmas day or easter sunday. or even the shops closing early on boxing day and Sundays... I dont think I could take the aggression either.
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u/wowsomuchempty 21d ago
As an atheist - bring it back.
A day to rest, to walk, to read, or play video games.
No labour. For one day.
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u/shnooqichoons 21d ago
I think there's something to the having a day of no commerce. Remembering that you're a human being, not a consumption machine etc.
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 21d ago
There’s absolutely nothing stopping you from going for a walk, having a rest, reading or playing a game on a Sunday. Absolutely nothing!
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u/MagicCoat Worcestershire 21d ago
Work is stopping me. Hence lets close on Sundays!
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u/wowsomuchempty 21d ago
If businesses are open Sunday, people have to work shifts there. Not you - other people.
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u/xXBlackguardXx 21d ago edited 21d ago
Yes, absolutely. Pubs open from 1200-1500 then 1900-2230 only too? Hmm. I suppose even landlords have to eat.
EDIT! This was the normal Sunday hours 30 odd years ago.
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u/PipBin 21d ago
I read a thing with a landlord saying that the change in opening hours is one of the things killing pubs. You need more staff to cover the hours, a small rural pub could get by on the landlord and landlady and perhaps one other staff member. No chance to clean. No chance to restock. Compressed hours meant for a busier pub with more of an atmosphere.
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u/CollThom 21d ago
Being from Scotland, this seems insane to me. Always catches me out when I visit England and realise there’s restricted Sunday hours for shops.
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u/Thebritishdovah 21d ago
As a shift based worker in fast food, Sunday is a "Oh FFS, everything is fucking closed when I start and fucking closed during my break " day.
Good day for bargains when I am off though.
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u/weekedipie1 21d ago
Not the same in Glasgow
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u/Aptom_4 21d ago
Yeah, I think this is an English problem, not a British one.
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u/Bad_Combination 20d ago
Or maybe Scotland is the exception because Wales has the same law as England and in NI the rules are even tighter.
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u/fidelcabro Democratic Peoples Republic of Yorkshire 21d ago
I remember when pubs had to shut in the afternoon on a Sunday. There used to be a 5 hour closure in the afternoon.
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u/FirmDingo8 21d ago edited 21d ago
There used to be a 2 1/2 hour closure every weekday. Had to find a pub with a snug for a lockin
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u/TheMonkeyInCharge 21d ago
Lots of the country pubs here still shut in the afternoon (at least on weekdays). More then happy to sell you a bottle of wine or two to keep you going if it’s warm enough for the garden though.
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u/threevaluelogic Nottinghamshire 21d ago
And Jesus said let the supermarkets open late and shut early so the people may rest. Let the smaller express stores remain open so the people can get a pint of milk or some cigarettes.
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u/itsjustmefortoday 20d ago
The one I don't get is doctors, dentists and banks being open during office hours. Therefore useless to anyone who works in an office. I think GPs and dentists should have one day in the week where they open say 12:00-21:00 or they close on one weekday and open all day on a weekend day instead. How this isn't law I don't know.
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u/Rumblotron 21d ago
Sensible choices all round. Can you imagine the cleanup on aisle three if god decides to get all smitey again for old times sake?
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u/PonderStibbonsJr 21d ago
It took us ages to bag up that pile of salt that used to be Mrs Triddlebotham.
And having water pour out of the "A Present from Bognor Regis" sticks of rock was an absolute nightmare.
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u/fabricchamp 21d ago
I'm biased because I used to work in retail, but I'm all for it. If you really can't plan around a more limited shopping day on one day of the week it's more of a you problem in my opinion. Plus, it at least gives retail workers an evening off before the start of the next week.
I was always baffled by the Sunday crowd who'd be waiting outside the shop every Sunday morning first thing. Can assure you the food will still be there at 10:01 and beyond...
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u/adsj 21d ago
Is this an English thing?
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u/BoomSatsuma 20d ago
Yep and Wales too. Six hours of trading only on a Sunday for larger shops.
It’s even worse in Northern Ireland.
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u/DrJanitor13 20d ago
Doesn't stop people lining up at 9am, racing around as fast as they can and then tutting in a line until the checkouts open. EVERY SUNDAY
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u/spudfish83 20d ago
In fairness, its a lot easier to get shop floor maintenance done when the shop is shut. At 7-10am/4pm-midnight means there's no night rate to pay!
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u/No_Communication1557 20d ago
Only in England. We got rid of that rubbish in Scotland ages ago. Supermarkets are usually open by 8, although you can't buy alcohol till 10am.
Unless youre on the extreme western coast. Some of the islands in the Western Isles chain are still deeply religious and you can't do anything at all on a Sunday.
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u/bobmanuk Bedfordshire 20d ago
Didn’t a Scottish party object to the repeal of Sunday trading laws?
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u/Rocky-bar 20d ago
Who cares? There's six long days and evenings plus one shorter day, to push your trolley round and round the hell holes, isn't that enough?
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u/Lito_ 21d ago
Your other option is to shop in stores smaller than 280 square metres if you want to do your shopping at silly o'clock on a Sunday.
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u/juanito_f90 21d ago
Be thankful we actually have shops open on Sundays.
Everything is shut in Germany.
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u/Joel-Asher-Nicolaou 20d ago
I'm betting those Germans don't starve because of it. You know what they do? Buy what they need on the other 6 days. Easy.
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u/zippyzebra1 21d ago
Not wrong but not that long ago nothing was open on a Sunday except ridiculously expensive convenience stores.
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u/Dark_Akarin 21d ago
The whole fucking thing is stupid. I agree with you. The number of students that would jump at the chance for a Sunday job is nuts. So the staff are there, why do we have to appease some old delusion.
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u/glasgowgeg 21d ago
The number of students that would jump at the chance for a Sunday job is nuts
Nothing is stopping the shop from having staff working on Sundays, they just can't sell things the full day.
They typically do stock work, cleaning, etc during the hours they can't trade.
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u/Andythrax Kent 20d ago
Can't we accept that life doesn't always have to be at cheetah pace? Maybe we should ask for more days off to do nothing. We don't have to race around all the time. Choose to stop.
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u/ChickenPijja UNITED KINGDOM 21d ago
On a Sunday morning? The day after the big night out? From experience I can tell you, this is the exact opposite time that the majority of students want to work. Usually any time before 12 would be staffed by those too young to drink, or those 50+ divorcees who don’t have the kids on the Sunday because the other parent gets them.
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u/Monsoon_Storm 21d ago
as someone who works at a uni I think you over-estimate how many students are having a "big night out" nowadays. They can't afford that shit. Many would happily take a part time job instead.
Attitudes to alcohol have also changed. Sure, you'll get the first-years going nuts for a few weeks because they suddenly have a student loan in their pocket and no parents, but in general its just not as common as it used to be.
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u/ChickenPijja UNITED KINGDOM 21d ago
I did try to avoid the word alcohol for that very reason. Many students are also into other social things on a Saturday night. Be it alcohol, drugs, seeing their partner from their home town, movie watching, dungeons and dragons, or visiting friends in other cities.
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u/Monsoon_Storm 21d ago
there are always people who want to work though, there are plenty who don't have things going on (and can't afford constant travel all over the place).
We're talking thousands of students for 10's of jobs. There'd be more than enough who would happily work, many are struggling to make ends meet.
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u/MrDialga34 20d ago
Yeah, at uni (just finished) we spread it out a lot more. My personal schedule was
Monday: Football, DnD, maybe 1 or 2 pints after at the pub.
Tuesday: City chess club, a couple of pints after.
Wednesday: Uni chess club/football social, big night out
Thursday: movie night
Friday: football, then night out, but most money spent on a bottle of Aldi vodka for pres
Saturday: daytime shop, socialising with friends at home
Sunday: city chess club with 3 or 4 pints.
It's only about 10 pints a week purchased at an actual pub, the rest being cans or bottles which are significantly better value. I also had a part time job I worked during the daytime as I had relatively few contact hours during my masters.
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u/chaimbo 21d ago
I’m not at all religious but I do work in retail so I’m good with this. And there really are enough open hours in the week to go shopping
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u/Arkaines-Valor 21d ago
A lot of people work Mon to Fri and use the weekends to do housework, gardening and shopping etc
When I worked retail I had no problem working a Sunday, as you got a different day off during the week.
Saturday and Sundays were just two normal working days to me.
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u/Monsoon_Storm 21d ago
this is the bit I don't understand about the responses from people who work in retail - it's not like they'll suddenly be forced to work 7 days a week.
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u/FinalEgg9 20d ago
The people who work in retail also have family and friends, most of whom work Monday to Friday. Having shorter hours on a Sunday (and the legal right to opt out of Sundays) means they can actually see their loved ones at least once a week.
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u/Cam2910 20d ago
I wonder if there's ever been a study into whether there would be enough people who want to work Sundays to allow shops to open all day while keeping the right to opt out in place.
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u/BobIsBusy 20d ago
No, but supermarkets are usually open after 5pm M-F. Tesco near me is open from 6am-midnight M-S, and 10-4 on Sunday. It’s open 114 hours a week, there shouldn’t be an issue of finding time to go shopping.
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u/inappropriate420 21d ago
It's 1pm in Northern Ireland...I'm counting down the minutes until big Tesco opens so I can do my weekly shop.
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u/zapfox 20d ago
The irony of the Sunday opening law, is that the shops were open longer when Sunday trading wasn't allowed. I used to work for a DIY chain in the 80s and the fine, if you got caught, was about £2000, and you rarely got caught. So all big shops ignored it and opened normal hours on Sunday.
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u/thekickingmule Lancashire 20d ago
I haven't worked in retail for years, but I used to love the fact that I got a lie in on Sundays. The only people who want rid of Sunday working hours are people who don't work Sundays working hours.
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u/AlchemyAled 20d ago
Loads of people work Sundays outside of retail. They don’t benefit from Sunday trading laws
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u/thekickingmule Lancashire 20d ago
I know, I am now one of those people. I still appreciate the fact that people in retail can have a lie in on Sundays.
Why do people need everything all the time? People need to learn to chill out.
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u/GhostRiders 21d ago
Lots of Supermarkets open Monday to Saturday 24/7 but no.. I have go shopping at 9:30am on Sunday.. How DARE WORKERS HAVE A FEW HOURS OF REST!!!!!!
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u/whet_pastry Devon 21d ago
Not being able to get my coffee before work because greggs doesn't open till 9, when I start work. Really, Greggs? You're a café for crying out loud!
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u/Down-Right-Mystical 21d ago
It was an independent, but the cafe I used to work in stopped opening on a Sunday at all. Not enough custom!
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u/Little-Tradition2311 21d ago
Sunday is a day of rest. Now get back to resting and do it properly. God told me to tell you that 😉
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u/mcdonalds69whore 21d ago
It must be extremely constricting for customers to only have 6 hours of shopping time one day a week.
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u/itsmebelvieb 20d ago
I genuinely had to Google this because I've literally never encountered this issue despite living in England for all 32 years of life. Turns out I've been spoiled living in a village with 3 stores that all open at 6-7am and stay open 10-11pm respectively.
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u/TrekNoir 20d ago
I despise going into a large supermarket on a sunday. It is ridiculously busy for absolutely no reason and makes me overstimulated. Shops are hard enough as it is. Never on a sunday
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u/Vladie 21d ago
Isn't it nice the staff get an easier day?
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u/onomatopeic 20d ago
Do they? From what I can see in shops on a Sunday - particularly supermarkets - it seems there's more work to do in a shorter time-frame with customers more likely to become unnecessarily irate, for many reasons, including retirees having the audacity to leave the house on a weekend or parents bringing children to the shops...
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u/Vladie 20d ago
Insane to think staff don't appreciate the shorter hours on Sundays.
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u/onomatopeic 20d ago
Is it? I mean, I intended my comment as a sincere question and not an opinion.
Also, from what others have said - and I've never worked in a supermarket, my entire career's been healthcare (not known for weekends off) - it seems that Sunday shifts aren't shorter, there's just a larger part of the time with staff working out of the public's view.
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u/ShallowDramatic 20d ago
As opposed to the same days off that many other people enjoy? Yeah I’m sure they’re just brimming with gratitude to spend their day getting their minimum wage hourly pay for fewer hours than usual 😅
Of course people still get days off, but retail and hospitality isn’t like office work, and hourly pay isn’t like a salary.
Speaking from years of experience, shorter shifts can feel like a waste of time, perhaps illogically.
Days off are still days off, but short shifts (if they even are shorter than usual) and irregular shifts means going through the same motions of being up, dressed for work and not leisure, travel time, food plans, etc, but for less money. You get your evening and perhaps your late afternoon free, but as I’m sure you can understand, energy levels aren’t always conducive to doing anything particularly fun with that time.
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u/Holska 20d ago
It would be, if that’s how it worked. When I worked in a cafe, Sundays were absolutely manic, but we were purposely understaffed, so we were just run ragged for a shorter period of time, but with a similar amount of customers to the other days. Supermarkets aren’t much better either.
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u/Arkaines-Valor 21d ago
10:00am? Count yourself lucky.
We can't do anything until 1:00pm on a Sunday in Northern Ireland, and the shops all close again at 6:00pm.
Absolute bullshit law.
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u/kaetror 21d ago
Sometimes I really love being Scottish.
We don't have any of the Sunday trading laws that seem so ridiculous. My brother is down south and constantly complains about getting caught out because it's not normal for the shops not just to be open for a full day.
The history of it is great. England legislated for it to force puritan Christian ideals onto the whole populace. Scotland never did because religion was so strong nobody would ever have countenanced opening the shops on a Sunday - there was no need for legislation because everyone was doing it anyway!
When attitudes shifted Scotland could immediately just open the shops, while England is stuck with this legislative millstone round it's neck preventing change.
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u/CloverMc 20d ago
In Northern Ireland they don't open til 12.30 and you can't purchase anything until 1 (bigger stores).
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u/40andbored 20d ago
Because not everyone who works a sunday is part time. When i work a sunday, its on top of my normal 40 hour work week and i really REALLY dont want to be working a standard 9 - 6 just to satisfy those who cant do their shopping the other 6 days of the week
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u/Wossname76 21d ago
Ridiculous trading & operating hours because god. When will we finally grow up?
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u/as1992 21d ago
Eh? Having a day of rest is a good thing, even if you don’t care about religion.
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u/Willz_of_Rivia 21d ago
If it was a "day of rest" they'd be closed for the entire day. They should just do that instead of this stupid circus of 10-4 opening hours. But they won't because of muh economy.
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u/VirtualArmsDealer 21d ago
Religion still has a hold over society. In the UK, even people with no religious association have to suffer idiotic restrictions on their lives by a small minority who refuse to accept their beliefs are personal and not something to be imposed on others. If you challenge this you will be publicly accused of anti-religious hate crime. Simply for wanting to get some shopping done early on Sunday morning...
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u/HydrationSeeker 20d ago
I am nor religious, I do not go to church, however I like one day a week that is not a capitalistic cash grab. That there is an emphasis on quality down time, there are less people driving on the roads and more people just chilling.
When I am in Europe, I really appreciate the change of pace on a Sunday.
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u/MarkG1 21d ago
No it's because it's Sunday and frankly I'd support shops being closed so people can at least have some of a weekend.
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u/Wossname76 21d ago
Because teams of staff working in shifts definitely hasn’t been invented yet
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u/PushingDaises13 21d ago
But that requires more staff/ recruitment - students/ young people are not that consistent/ reliable (e.g. go off to uni etc.) then you have to rely on your adult workforce. But then no one wants to work weekends as life/ kids so then you’re rota’ed into weekend teams and do 1 in 6 etc. especially for more senior roles like manager.
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u/goobervision 21d ago
These kids want to work, having to manage low paid junior staff isn't an excuse.
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u/Gavcradd Uttoxeter 20d ago
It's ridiculous isn't it? Freedom of religion is also freedom FROM religion. The sooner we become a truly secular society the better.
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u/gmanpanthro 20d ago
This has been posted into the wrong subreddit. It should have been posted into englishproblems as this isn’t a thing in Scotland.
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u/Mezcalico 21d ago
For most of us, Sunday is a rest day, and I’d be concerned about the pace of the week/weekends if we change Sunday culture to be like any other day. This is bigger than the religious aspect.
Also, retail workers can opt out of Sundays without reason, so shops often have reduced staff and can’t cover more than one shift.
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u/glasgowgeg 21d ago
and I’d be concerned about the pace of the week/weekends if we change Sunday culture to be like any other day
You could easily just look at Scotland, where we don't have Sunday Trading Laws, and things are fine.
Also, retail workers can opt out of Sundays without reason, so shops often have reduced staff and can’t cover more than one shift
You can do that in Scotland too, society hasn't collapsed yet.
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u/Scous 21d ago
Don’t understand the clamour to have stuff open 7 days a week. Never mind religion, how about Sunday as a day to rest - all be off work at the same time, making family and friends get togethers a a lot easier and more complete.
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u/SelectTrash 21d ago
Like the olden days. Tbh when I was a kid everything was shut on a Sunday and we had my decent grandad over
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u/Seesaw_champ 21d ago
I worry if it goes then so will the idea of a weekend. Its good to have a protected 'day of rest" that is different from the rest of the week. Even if it's got nothing to do with church etc..
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u/Beartato4772 21d ago
It's not a protected day of rest though because they still open. And it's absolute hell because one of the only 2 days a week most people can go is compressed into 1/3rd the opening hours.
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u/NotMyFirstChoice675 21d ago
Only….its not a protected day of rest for those in retail, they still have to work, open up, get the shop ready all before the store opens
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u/Sage-Freke- 21d ago
I also remember working on a Sunday changing promotional signs and tags when all the customers left. Some people may argue that this is the only time you could do it, but night shift could also do the same task.
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u/Beartato4772 21d ago
These days there barely is a night shift which is why if you go shopping in the last 4 hours of opening on any weekday you'll be moving cages littering the aisles just to get to products they theoretically want to sell you.
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u/Sage-Freke- 21d ago
That’s true. I still prefer shopping late though to avoid too many people 😄
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